Inner Colors
by Bunnihop
Summary: DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**Format might be a little messed up but I don't know how to fix it. I don't think it's too distracting anyways.**

 **Before we start, this story is based on the reverse pines AU. Later in the story, if I go the Dipifica route, keep in mind that there is no pinecest. Mabel and Dipper in this story are just very close siblings. Please read and review, constructive criticism is always appreciated. First fanfic. Hopefully I'll get better in the later chapters.**

Dipper sighed, staring at the body on the floor.

"Did you really have to do that?" he asked. "You couldn't leave the body, I don't know, somewhere where no one would lead it back to us?

"Hey, killing is amazing," Mabel said. She lightly knocked on the globe made of glass. "I'm surprised I didn't do it before."

"You had to do it _here_?"

Mabel hummed. "Well, duh. How else were supposed to do the spell… inconspicuously?"

"When the journal said sacrifice, I was assuming it meant animal. Not human." He kicked the body, blood getting all over his shoe. "You do realize that we'll be in big trouble once we're found out, right?"

She giggled. "Pshh, hahh. We won't be found out. I mean we have our magic. We're good. We're all good."

"Doubtful."

Mabel leaned over towards the floor. She broke the silence. "Don't you think this is too easy to break out of, brother?" Her half-lidded eyes flickered to the corner of the room where her brother was standing.

Dipper shrugged. "I suppose so, sister. Unfortunately, that was the only thing I could trap him in in such short notice." He chuckled darkly. "What a fool Bill was… trying to trick us." Mabel giggled.

"Yes, he sure was." She knocked on the glass again, watching the tiny yellow triangle inside float helplessly around. Its eyes were narrowed dangerously and once in awhile it would quickly flash a glowing red. Mabel giggled again, this time more insanely. "Oh, you're so cute in there!" she said, stretching out her words. She looked at Dipper who was crossing his arms, a slightly curious look on his face.

"Yeah, sure, sister. He sure is cute," he said.

"Look at him!" She touched the globe with the pad of her finger. The triangle's red glow began to flicker even faster. "Hey, Bill's getting maa~ad." An echoey voice came out of the globe. Mabel leaned in closer. "What was that?"

"SHOOTING STAR, PINE TREE," Bill bellowed loudly, causing Mabel to jump in shock. "YOU MAY HAVE WON THIS FIGHT, BUT THE BATTLE IS NOT YET OVER."

"You're right," Mabel said, smiling smugly. "The battle isn't over. But when it is, we'll be the winners." She smiled widely, showing her teeth. "Right brother?"

"That's enough, sister," Dipper said. "We still don't know how powerful Bill really is." His eyes wandered to Bill briefly before returning to his sister. "It's best not to aggravate him until we know for certain."

"YEAH, LISTEN TO THE PINE TREE SHOOTING STAR. UNTIL YOU KNOW FO-" The rest of Bill's words were muffled when Mabel dropped a black cloth over the globe.

"Shut it, you triangle guy," she said. She clapped her hands together. "Yeah, yup," she said, addressing Dipper. "Not until we know the true extent of his abilities. Honestly brother, you're so paranoid."

"I have good reason to be," Dipper said.

"Look at him!" Mabel said, gesturing to the globe now covered in black. "He's completely powerless. He can't do anything in that state." Bill's voice became louder although they could not make out what he was saying.

"He's powerless until the glass shatters. It shatters very easily, I might add." Dipper looked at the clock. "Let's talk about this later, sister. We have a guest to greet." He motioned her with his finger. Mabel gasped in faux surprise.

"Without double-checking, triple-checking, a millionth-checking that the globe won't break?" she asked in a breathy voice. "I never thought I'd see the day you weren't sooo O.C.D. Brother. Wow." Dipper rolled his eyes away from her view.

"Very funny. Now, let's go greet the guest. After all, we wouldn't want their opinion of us to be blindsided by rumors, would we?" Dipper grinned wickedly. "We should greet them ourselves before they hear any unsavory opinions about us. Anyways, I already millionth-checked those protective spells around the globe. It'll be fine. Hopefully," he added to himself. Mabel blinked twice before smiling in return.

"Yes! A new person!" she said, pumping her fist in the air. "We are going to have so much fun together!"

They left the room together, Mabel with a happy smile and happy stride and Dipper moving normally. On the table where they left the globe, a faint red triangle was glowing out of the cloth.

…

"Well, here it is. The Mystery Shack."

After Pacifica and Gideon stepped off the bus, Gideon looked back and forth at the nearly falling apart tourist trap and the map. "Aw, come on!" he shouted, waving his arms in the air. "I have to stay here? In this place?"

"Yup," a girl's voice behind him said. "It's a beauty, isn't it?" Gideon threw the map on the ground.

"Hardly a beauty!" he shouted. "Why can't I stay in the manor with you, Pacifica? I don't want to be living in this dirty old trap for the rest of the summer."

"You know how my parents are," Pacifica said, hardly bothered. She flipped her hair. "Besides, peasants should stay out of the castle. The only thing peasants can do is work." Gideon looked at Pacifica with a look of disbelief.

"You don't think _I'm_ a peasant, do you?" Pacifica scoffed.

"No duh. The only reason I stayed at your filthy old house… for a MONTH ugh… is because of that ghost haunting our manor and your parents were the only one to take me in while _my_ parents were too busy fending off the ghost."

"Ghost?" Gideon said. "What ghost? No one ever told me about a ghost."

"Because your puny little brain wouldn't be able to stand the thought of it." Pacifica flicked him on the forehead.

"Ow!" he said, holding the spot where she had flicked him. "Geez, would've thought you would've learned some humility by now," he mumbled angrily.

"What was that?" Gideon's head shot up.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," he said quickly.

"That's right nothing," Pacifica said, smiling smugly. "Now if you excuse me, I have to go back to the Manor. I don't know how I survived living in that hovel."

"Fine, go ahead and go back to your filthy rich mansion!" he said, waving his fist in the air as he looked at Pacifica's retreating figure. "I don't care."

She merely ignored him. "That girl is the death of me," Gideon said, eye twitching.

He stood in place for a while, staring at the Mystery Shack. The most notable thing about it was the nearly falling 'S' which he couldn't stop glancing at."It can't be that bad," he said to himself, "if there are people living in it. Yeah."

In the silence of the woods, the sound of footsteps were coming closer. Had he not been preoccupied with struggling to take a step closer to the shack, he would've noticed the sound. So he was slightly surprised when a male's voice suddenly broke the silence. "You'll love it here. I'm sure you will."

Turning around, Gideon saw two people, a girl and a boy, who looked very similar. The boy who had spoken smiled at him, but warmly or coldly he didn't know. The girl who was beside him was smiling hugely, bouncing a bit back and forth on her toes.

"Welcome to Gravity Falls," the two said in unison.

Gideon raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

The girl on the right laughed. "Where are our manners? I'm Mabel… Mabel Pines," she said, holding her hand out for a handshake. When Gideon didn't take it, her smile dropped and her arm dropped to the side. The boy gave him a short glare before speaking.

"I'm Dipper," the boy said, not quite as enthusiastically as Mabel. The pine tree hat on his head did nothing to lessen the dark and serious look he had. "We wanted to welcome you-"

"-To this little city," Mabel finished for him. Gideon looked at them suspiciously.

"Well thank you. Is that all you need from me?" Gideon asked.

Dipper snorted. "We never needed anything from you." Mabel jabbed him in the side, interrupting him.

"What he means is," Mabel said, staring pointedly at Dipper, "that we would _love_ it if you hung out with us sometime. Or! You can hang out with us right now." She returned her gaze to Gideon, eyes positively beaming.

Gideon blinked twice. "Sure, I guess," he said, stretching out his words. His eyes flickered back and forth.

The corners of Dipper's mouth lifted somewhat up. The regard he had to Gideon was nothing short of dangerous. A gleam was in his eye.

"Why don't we give you a tour of our humble little city? We promise you won't regret it… in the future," Dipper said. His voice was low. Gideon gulped and took a few steps back.

Mabel jabbed Dipper in the side again. "Oh, hush, brother. You're scaring him!" she whispered loudly.

Dipper laughed humorlessly. He raised his arms in the air like he was caught by a cop. Dropping them to his sides, he said, "I'm sorry Gideon. It wasn't my intention to do that." His darkness disappeared and there was nothing Gideon could see in his face anymore. It was like Dipper's emotions had suddenly disappeared. Somehow this made him seem even more dangerous, being unable to tell what he was thinking.

"Yeah," Gideon answered, unable to think of anything else to say. "Wait, how do you know my name?" Mabel looked at him oddly before speaking.

"Welp, I think we should get started on our grand tour!" Mabel said, glowing. She clapped her hands. "This'll be fun."

Gideon's mouth twisted. "Of course it will." Dipper frowned at him, but it only lasted for a millisecond. Gideon didn't notice.

Mabel clasped both her hands with Gideon's. With a hop in her step, she let one hand go and started pulling him away with a strength Gideon didn't know she had.

Looking back and forth between her and Dipper, Gideon noticed even more clearly the contrast that was palpable in the air. Mabel was shining and beaming brightly just like a star. Meanwhile Dipper was gloomy, Gideon swore he could see a dark aura around him.

A very noticeable contrast. Like yin and yang. Angel and a devil. Gideon preferred angels.

"HOLY SH - OW!" Gideon yelled as he was dragged unceremoniously on the dirt floor, having forgotten to move his feet as he was too caught up in his thoughts.

Mabel glanced at him for a second before slowing down. Her face was blank, but unlike her brother's face it did not seem serious.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Gideon was huffing and puffing, out of breath. Breathing in and trying to ignore the pain by his knee, he answered, "Yeah. I'm fine," like a robot.

"Great!" Mabel said immediately after the final syllable left his lips. With no time at all, she dragged him again at a quicker pace.

"Mabel, slow down," Dipper said, his eyebrow raised in amusement. "You're killing him."

Turning his head around, Gideon saw Dipper walking casually behind them, arms crossed and his cap shading his eyes from view.

Mabel snorted. "No I'm not, silly. He's perfectly fine."

"No, I'm not!" Gideon squeaked out.

Mabel ignored him. "Perfectly fine," she repeated. Gideon thought he heard Dipper snigger but that seemed so unlike him. From the corner of his eye Gideon saw Dipper smiling, the cap still shading his eyes ominously.

No, he was sure that the both of them were devils.

...

The first stop was at a tent. They called it the Tent of Telepathy.

Dipper, despite only walking casually the whole way there, kept up with Mabel's running pace. Gideon didn't know how that happened or how they weren't out of breath.

"Tada~!" Mabel said, sweeping her arms with a grand flourish at the tent. She peered at Gideon. "Wanna take a look inside?"

"Isn't that another tourist trap?" Gideon said. "It looks a lot better than the Mystery Shack. Loads better."

"The Mystery Shack's amazing," Dipper said. "You shouldn't be so shallow, Gideon."

"Oh. Sorry?" Gideon said meekly. "You guys never told me, how do you know my name?"

Mabel rolled her eyes with her back turned to him. "You never answered my question, Gideon."

"Yeah, well you never answered mine! I asked first!" Gideon stubbornly crossed his arms.

"Excuses, excuses," Mabel waved her hand as if to shoo him away. "Anyways, since you didn't answer, I think we should begin the tour! Starting with the Tent of Telepathy." With a forceful pull, she dragged Gideon inside the tent. A muffled sound of Dipper sniggering again was heard.

The inside of the tent was very spacious considering the outside. Rows of chairs were lined up along the sides of the tent and in the front center was a stage. They walked towards it, fortunately in a reasonable walking pace.

"This is where we perform," Mabel said. "The people of Gravity Falls don't like us, you see, but they sure do love watching us perform our magic tricks!" She laughed. "I think that's the only form of respect they have for us, really."

"Oh really?" Gideon said. "Why don't they like you guys? There's got to be a perfectly good reason they don't like you, now isn't there?"

"So judgemental. Poor, poor boy," Dipper said. His eyes were closed, unable to see the shocked look Gideon had.

"You-" Gideon started to say before Mabel interrupted.

"He doesn't mean anything by that, Giddy."

"Giddy?" Gideon said.

"You're giving him a nickname now, sister?" Dipper said. "You're very attached to him."

Mabel frowned. Turning to Gideon, she said, "Do you mind excusing us for a moment. I need a minute to talk to my dear brother here."

Gideon didn't say anything for a while. "Sure. Go right ahead."

"Thanks!" Mabel said. She flashed him a quick grin before pulling her brother outside. Gideon noticed that she pulled Dipper slower and less roughly than when she pulled him. Before she pulled the tent's door closed, she waved at Gideon.

With nothing else to do, he sat down on one of the chairs. He sat backwards, looking at the door impatiently. He drummed his finger against the edge.

" _Gideon,"_ he heard a weak, small voice say. " _Won't you come help me?"_

Before he could do anything else, tiny and sparkly blue triangles appeared out of nowhere. They swirled around him, sparkles pouring down.

" _Come help me."_


	2. Chapter 2

"What?" Gideon said, nervousness showing on his face. "Who are you? Where are you?" He looked around frantically to find the voice.

The voice didn't respond. The blue sparkles listlessly swirled around his head. It made him angry and he swatted at them to no effect. His arm merely passed through them like it was air.

After one more swirl, the triangles and sparkles drifted off into another direction, flashing a golden color once in a while. " _Will you help me?"_

They went to the stage and lay there, seemingly waiting for Gideon to follow.

"Go away you, you thing!" Gideon shouted at the triangles and the voice which had no discernible location.

"What are you yelling at?" Mabel asked, poking her head out from the opening.

"Oh! Mabel!" Gideon sat down sheepishly. "It was nothing." He peered at the stage where the things had disappeared. Disappearing and appearing out of nowhere. Fitting for Dipper who had suddenly appeared behind him. Wait, behind him? "Gah!"

Gideon nearly fell out of the chair once he spotted Dipper. "Are you trying to give me a heartattack?"

Dipper's nod was so imperceptible that Gideon thought he imagined it. "I am. Thank you for noticing," Dipper said in a serious tone.

"Psh, he's just kidding," Mabel said, patting Gideon on the back. "That's one of our magic tricks; the disappearing and appearing act. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah, cool. What's not cool is you almost giving me a heartattack!" Gideon growled.

Dipper was unfazed by the anger he was showing. "Your temper's a volcano, that's what it is."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gideon said.

"You're dumb is what that means. Take it as you will."

"Brother! Gideon," Mabel said, stepping in between the two before things could get out of hand. She faced Dipper. "Gosh, it's like you hate Gideon or something."

"Well maybe I do," Dipper said. "It's not like he has any likeable traits." He remained calm and collected.

"You don't either," Gideon shot back.

"Guys!" Mabel spread her arms out. "Brother did you forget what we talked about?" she hissed at him.

"Of course I do," Dipper responded. "You just stopped talking in the middle of it so I figured it wasn't that important."

"Well, it isn't. But still," Mabel said, shifting her eyes back and forth. "Just, ah, nevermind. Giddy, do you want to see our act?"

"Sure," Gideon said.

"Great!" Mabel showed her teeth. "So after our tour you can buy tickets to our show and watch it from there."

"I have to buy tickets?" Gideon asked.

"Yeah, if you want to watch it. Anyways, the next place, the Northwest Mansion! Woo! That girl's you were with house." She stepped aside.

"Were you spying on us? How long were you there?"

"Long enough. Geez, you're just as paranoid as Dipper."

"I resent that," Dipper said, glaring daggers at Mabel. She ignored him.

"We have some business with her AND her family's having a party to celebrate her return. We should totally ask for invitations," Mabel said.

"A party?" Gideon repeated. "They're having a party? I never heard of this." Mabel made an 'o' shape with her mouth.

"Now you know," she said. "Cool."

"No," Gideon said. "Not cool. Pacifica didn't even tell me, why would she do that?"

"It's not like you two were close," Dipper stated. "If I had a party, I wouldn't invite you either." Mabel hit Dipper on the back but not hard enough to hurt him.

"Brother that's cold. You're so cold today." Mabel said, her words shivering like she was in the snow.

"I concur," said Gideon. He glowered at Dipper, not with the same intensity that Dipper was giving him.

"No," Mabel said. "No staring contests. As much as I like them, we don't have the time."

Dipper sighed. "Yes, I suppose you're right this time around. I regret even considering to meet him."

Mabel ushered them out the Tent of Telepathy. When Gideon was a considerable distance away, she whispered in Dipper's ear, "you and me both brother. You and me both."

Dipper smiled.

…

In all honesty, the mansion wasn't what Gideon was expecting. In fact, it was underwhelming, what with the trek up the mountain.

From the black gates he could see that Pacifica wasn't exaggerating about its size, but the state of the mansion was in serious need of work. The many windows had so much dust in it that it was near impossible to see through. The plants and trees outside looked like they were in the fall season instead of spring and the fountains were dull. The fountains weren't even running water.

Mabel leaned closer to Dipper. "Is it me or did the Northwest Manor suddenly get a lot more dreary?"

"It's not just you, sister. I think it's the ghost," he whispered back. He didn't make sure it didn't reach Gideon's ears.

"What ghost?" Gideon asked. Mabel's eyes widened to a small degree.

"What, Pacifica didn't tell you? Huh," she said. "Surprise surprise."

"She mentioned coming to my hometown because of a ghost… after coming here and only after," Gideon said, face bitter.

"Only after?" Dipper said. "She didn't tell you about it when she came there?"

"Yeah," was the only thing Gideon said.

When Pacifica first came to his house, he was given only a minute notice by his father. His father never specified anything other then a girl would be visiting their house for a short while. That short while got extended to a month (which Gideon hardly classified as short) and while there Pacifica said nothing about why she was there. He didn't know _why_ the only time he told him was after they were at Gravity Falls and the weak excuse she gave did nothing to help him find out.

It wasn't like he wanted to find out anyways. The whole stay there Pacifica was nothing but an ungrateful, suffering, spoilt wench.

"Did you know, Gideon," Dipper said, his voice quiet. Well, quieter than his normal tone of voice, yet somehow Gideon could still hear it clearly.

"Huh?" Gideon snapped his head towards him.

"People are the poorest judges when it comes to themselves," Dipper continued. If Gideon could have a penny for every time Dipper's cap made him look ominous, he'd be rich. Richer. Maybe as rich as the Northwests.

Dipper shifted his weight on one leg. Mabel stifled a laugh before hitting Dipper with the back of her hand. "Brother," Mabel said quickly.

"Well it's true," he said.

"What does that have to do with anything, Dipper?" Gideon asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh brother, you've gone and screwed it up," Mabel said through her teeth. Her face completely betrayed the venom in her voice.

"I've done nothing wrong," Dipper said. She stared at him before regarding Gideon.

"He's a bit crazy in the head, my brother," she said. She made a crazy motion with her hands. "Cuckoo, cuckoo."

"Can it."

"Cuckoo." Mabel walked around in a circle, laughing all the while.

"You're even crazier than I am. Don't you agree, Gideon?" Dipper gestured his hand towards her and then himself. "She's insane."

"And she's more likeable than you," Gideon said. Mabel ruffled his oversized white hair causing him to flinch indignantly.

"Yeah, bro-bro! I'm more likeable than you. Even Bi-" She stopped and coughed into her fist. "Even Pacifica's more likeable than you and she's a," she whispered something in Dipper's ear. There was no reaction from him.

"I'm a what?" Pacifica asked, coming up to them from the mansion. Funny how Gideon hadn't noticed her presence.

"That's funny," Dipper said, eyes to the sky. "You came out earlier than expected. About five seconds earlier."

"And I thought you stopped being so paranoid, gosh," Mabel said. Everything about her body language screamed disappointment.

"Don't ignore me!" Pacifica said, hands on her hips. "What did you just call me, Mabel?"

"You're the worst," Dipper said as if he were reading from a bland book.

"I love how much you sugar coated that," Gideon said.

"Thank you. I try my best," Dipper said, not looking at him but at Pacifica for some reason. He knocked twice on the gates, it making a loud clanging sound. Pacifica and Gideon winced at the sudden noise. "What are you waiting for, Pacifica? Open the gates. This thing between us isn't exactly my ideal way of talking."

Pacifica snapped her fingers. "Yeah, sure. Whatever," she said in an uncaring manner. The gates opened slowly with a creak, giving them enough time to move out of the way.

"What was this I heard about you having a party?" Gideon asked when the gates were mostly open.

"Oh," Pacifica said. She frowned and pointed at the twins. "Did they tell you that? Of course they would. Let me guess, you three want invitations?"

"Yeah!" Mabel said, looking Pacifica directly in the eye.

"No," Dipper and Gideon said at the same time as her. Mabel jabbed Dipper in the side.

"You're such a buzzkill, brother. You do not want to be cooped up in that room staring at the globe all day," Mabel said. Gideon was about to ask about the globe but decided against it. After all, it was not his problem. The problem right now was not being informed about Pacifica's party by Pacifica.

"Maybe I do," Dipper said. "Who knows what other people might stumble upon it? And…" He whispered in Mabel's ear so Pacifica and Gideon were unable to hear, "we still have that dead body to deal with. We didn't clean it up."

"I told you, we have our magic, it's fine," Mabel whispered back. "What are the chances of someone stumbling upon it? Crazy, paranoid, Dipper," she said in a louder voice. "Anyways, invitations. Gimme." She held out her hands to Pacifica eagerly.

"What makes you think I'll give them to you?" Pacifica asked, holding her purse close to her.

"Because," Mabel said, "we helped you. Now you have to repay us." She waggled her fingers.

"Yeah, no." Pacifica let the purse hang from her fingertips. "Your 'helping' didn't help at all. What a waste of money." She put air quotation marks when saying the word.

"No one paid us, Pacifica," Dipper said.

"Yeah, 'Cifica!" Mabel said, putting her hand on her heart with an exaggerated shocked expression. "We did it out of the kindness of our heart."

"I'm leaving now," Gideon announced suddenly.

For some reason he was feeling very uncomfortable. He didn't know why but every fiber of his being told him to go away from the manor. Mabel opened her mouth to say something but decided against it, noticing his discomfort.

"Come to our show," she said instead. "We have a free gift for you, even if you don't buy tickets to it. Take it as… a welcoming gift."

"Uh, yeah. Sure," Gideon said.

…

Stanley Pines stared out the window of the Mystery Shack. "Where is he?" he said, squinting. "Bud said that he was coming over here for summer vacation today."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Wendy said. She was sitting at the counter with her legs resting atop of it. "He's probably avoiding you after what happened over there."

"Yup. Probably." Stan straightened his back. "Well, easy money at least. I don't have to take care of another twerp." Smiling and whistling, he strode upstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for not updating this. I got a bunch of writer's block… but the main reason was because I was incredibly lazy. Is anyone still interested in this? I am so bad at consistency.**

When Gideon met Stan at the Mystery Shack, Stan was noticeably displeased.

"Oh, hey kid," Stan said as he opened the door and saw Gideon standing there. "Thought you got yourself eaten by wolves or something."

"Can it, old man," Gideon said, pushing past him.

"Woah," a red headed girl said as Gideon entered the shack. "Speak of the devil, it's Gideon. He looks just like the pictures. Except a lot more pudgy. Or maybe he looks about the same."

"Isn't that my line?" a fat guy wearing a question mark shirt said, pointing at the red head. He was mopping the floor, possibly making the floor even more susceptible to collapse. Gideon didn't want to spend any more minutes in this place, but he had to. He had nowhere else to go.

"Yeah," the girl said. "We thought the same thing. High five." She brought up her hand and high fived him in the air.

"Who are you people?" Gideon asked.

The red-head raised her hand on the table. "Wendy here. Nice to finally meet you, Gideon."

"And I'm Soos." Soos thumped his fist against his chest. "Nice to meet you, dude." He laughed. "You know, Stan told us all about the… uh, the last time you two dudes met! Must've been quite an experience, huh?"

"He did?" Gideon said. He glared at Stan. "Exactly what did he tell you?"

Stan sighed. "It's nothing, kid."

"I demand to know what lies you have told, Stan Pines!" Gideon said. His finger pointed at Stan and shook as he tried to stare Stan down. Wendy watched on in amusement at the display.

After minutes of futile intimidation, Gideon gave up and went to bed.

…

"Seriously? Again?"

Mabel dragged the body on the floor. Unlike the first time, the body could hardly be recognized. She shrugged sheepishly. "I, uh, I panicked. He almost found out."

"I think most of the town found out. This is why they have suspicions of us, sister," Dipper said.

"Just your imagination. Anyways, I said we were going to that party and we're going to that party, one way or another."

"Why do you even want to go to that party anyways? There's a lot of better things you could do than go to a boring Northwest party."

Mabel rolled her eyes. She put her hands up in the air in an exasperated manner. "It's a party. Party's are fun. Not that you'd know anything about fun."

"I know plenty about fun," he shot back. "But seriously, this is Pacifica here. She's the… second most frustrating person we know."

"Second? Who's the first?"

Dipper paused in his breath. "...Gideon."

Her eyes shifted back and forth. She laughed. "Gideon? We've only just met him. Why do you hate him so much? I know he's a bit arrogant… and I have a bad feeling about him too, but..."

He sighed heavily. "He just gives me a bad feeling." He changed the subject. "About the party, how do you plan to get in?"

Mabel tapped the amulet around her neck. It clinked as her fingernail made contact with the surface. "It's destiny, brother. We'll get in one way or another." She eyed the two journals to the side. They heard a slight fluttering as the tent's doorway parted. Mabel smiled. "And it looks like destiny is calling." She snapped her fingers. The blood, the dead body and the scent of death disappeared. "I love doing magic."

…

Pacifica Northwest knew the Pines twins. To an extent. She knew that despite their completely normal ordinary appearances and their not so flashy garb - Dipper with that same old T-shirt and vest combination, and Mabel's signature shooting star sweater and braces, their lives were anything but. As long as she could remember Dipper and Mabel Pines were in her life. Not literally of course. She was close enough to them that she could say that they were past the acquaintance point but not quite near the friendship point, wherever that was.

Well, that was only on certain occasions. Most of the time they were just distant acquaintances.

Those occasions where they were past those acquaintance points - which happened with much more frequency than years ago - were always strange, to say the least. Strange, in a good way. Dipper and Mabel would lose their psychopathic demeanor they claimed they didn't have and would become a bit more friendly, in a way. Pacifica didn't reciprocate that friendliness to the same extent but they seemed to not care.

They seemed to. It was hard to know their true feelings. Dipper rarely showed his emotions. Mabel did show hers but it was rather more of a facade of emotions, or emotion, Pacifica should say. That always constant smile Mabel had _had_ to be fake sometimes. The only other emotion she saw out of the both of them was anger which was few and far in between.

Pacifica supposed it would be hypocritical for her to say that their emotions that they kept hidden annoyed her. It wasn't as if she didn't hide her emotions as well. Still, it didn't change the fact that it annoyed her. For years she had known them and yet she knew next to nothing about them. It made it very hard for her to predict their next actions.

The Northwest Manor party that was soon to come up was a recent example. Never had Dipper or Mabel expressed interest in any of the parties, although Mabel's ears did perk up when a party was mentioned. Pacifica was not one to claim to be an expert at reading people though.

Helpfulness was one thing that she did not think they would do if it didn't benefit them. So when they offered to get rid of the ghost that was hanging around the manor for no price, naturally she was surprised. Naturally her parents accepted the offer. Some help they did. The ghost was still hanging around.

And now her parents were turned to wood. She did wonder where they had went after not hearing from them for weeks but she figured her parents just didn't care about her much. While seeing her parents turned to stone was unexpected, she figured that it was somewhat of a pleasant surprise. Being chased by the ghost with the axe, not so much. Good thing it had a limited radius.

The mixed feelings she felt after seeing her parents were washed away with horror. The realization that she would now have nowhere to go - Gideon's hatred for her was obvious, he definitely would protest against her living with him, and the Pines twins wouldn't let anyone near their home, wherever that was, and her pride wouldn't allow her to ask anyone anyways. But sometimes she had to let that pride go, didn't she? Nah, she was never going to ask to stay with anyone. Living with Gideon was bad enough, but the pieces of freedom she had over there was really quite nice.

Now her mind was pulling her in different directions. To ask for help, to not ask for help, to not do anything…

She could ask the Pines twins to try to get rid of the ghost again. Chances were, as lazy and unattached to others as they were, they didn't even get started on getting rid of the ghost. It wasn't the first time they'd say they do something then completely turn their back on it. Then again, it was Mabel who made the promises by herself. And Mabel did seem like the type of individual who just didn't care about them.

Pacifica found herself pacing in front of the Tent of Telepathy. Early in the mornings, the twins set up their act there.

She was sure she looked terrible. Camping out under a tree, hidden from view from the rest of the world was a bad idea. The night was cold, thankfully not too cold. She recalled the homeless people seen on the TV, using newspapers as covers. Unlike them, she had no newspapers to cover herself. She had only slept a little while before waking up, skin protesting against the chill. The sun was just barely in the sky.

Pacing kept her warm. But the more she paced, the more her resolve dwindled. Surely there must be another way, but the twins were the ones who were more well versed than anyone else in the supernatural stuff. She wouldn't have been surprised if they were supernatural creatures themselves.

They claimed to be psychics. They even had proof to back it up.

Pacifica slowly entered the tent, the faint smell of something odd entering her nose. As her arm went through, the odor was completely gone. Briefly she wondered what it was but it didn't matter.

Her eyes locked on both of the twins' faces which had an 'I've been expecting you' expression. Mabel smiled, showing off most of her teeth and her braces. The metal of the braces glinted, reflecting off the sunlight shining in through the opening of the tent.

"Hey Pacifica," Mabel chirped. "Did you come to invite us to your party?"

Pacifica explained her situation to them. They listened, their faces unmoving from their current expression. Mabel smiling and Dipper… listening boredly. It didn't seem like he was listening at all, actually, while Mabel's full attention was on her.

Mabel hummed. "We _could_ help you, Pacifica," she said. "IF. You give us invitations to the party."

Pacifica stared. "There is no party. My parents can't throw the party if they're wood."

"Oh." Mabel clenched at her amulet. Dipper stared off into space. "I still want that invitation though."

"Sure. Whatever."

She beamed. "Great!" She walked towards Dipper and poked him with her index finger. "Told ya," she whispered. She flinched suddenly but recovered quickly. Pacifica swore she saw something like electric sparks near them. But she wouldn't say she saw, since she didn't seem them physically, it was something like her mind saw them.

He sighed a sigh lasting more than a few seconds. His and Pacifica's eyes locked. That was the first time they made direct eye contact. "Since you have nowhere to go," he said slowly as if tasting his words. "You can come live with us."

Pacifica blinked and her eyes widened in surprise. "R - really?" she said, unable to stop blinking and unable to look at him. After she composed herself, she said, "Like, in the tent?"

"No," Mabel said. She giggled, flashing a peek at a slightly smiling Dipper. "In our house… that isn't the tent and is nowhere near the tent."

Pacifica took a while to process the words. While she was curious to know what their house looked like and where it was, it seemed that entering their house was too easy. Maybe their house would be layered with traps or something.

Perhaps sensing her reluctance, Mabel grabbed her arm, winking playfully. "Come on," she said. "I'll show you our house."


End file.
